So My Desktop PC Just Died...

[PoS]

Right as I was uploading a pic to post on the Food forum (must be a sign) so now I'm on my laptop. Anyway I'm going to the store tomorrow to buy a new one.

My old PC has been in use for 9 years every single day and never let me down. RIP, old buddy.

I'm thinking about getting a Win8 64 bit OS (I hate Windoze and Im only getting it to play games) and an Intel 7400 chip.

Anyone have any recommendations for graphics cards? Just looking to play strategy games like DA:I, Arkham Knight and ME Andromeda, nothing special.

How much RAM should I get?

Any suggestions welcome.

 

[Fishking]

Any suggestions welcome.

Only suggestion I have is to not limit it's capabilities based on the games you play now. If you're going to be spending the money then get one that performs well so it's good for whatever that comes up in the future for a bit.

 

[PoS]

Only suggestion I have is to not limit it's capabilities based on the games you play now. If you're going to be spending the money then get one that performs well so it's good for whatever that comes up in the future for a bit.

Well Im giving myself a budget of $1K for the unit (without peripherals) so I dont want to go overboard on a gaming rig.

 

[chuckiechan]

Well Im giving myself a budget of $1K for the unit (without peripherals) so I dont want to go overboard on a gaming rig.

Have you ever thought of building your own?

You already have the case, CD burner, HDD's, monitor,

You can buy a new mother board & chip combo, Win 10, video card, memory, and a powersupply, and you are good to go.

It's actually pretty easy. I've never bought a complete computer due to the games I play require a lot of performance, so I build my own.

I routinely sell my mother board and chip with memory and video card separately after I build a new rig.

 

[Lutherf]

Right as I was uploading a pic to post on the Food forum (must be a sign) so now I'm on my laptop. Anyway I'm going to the store tomorrow to buy a new one.

My old PC has been in use for 9 years every single day and never let me down. RIP, old buddy.

I'm thinking about getting a Win8 64 bit OS (I hate Windoze and Im only getting it to play games) and an Intel 7400 chip.

Anyone have any recommendations for graphics cards? Just looking to play strategy games like DA:I, Arkham Knight and ME Andromeda, nothing special.

How much RAM should I get?

Any suggestions welcome.

Skip Windows 8 and get 10. Get at least 8 gigs of ram and a GeForce 970. You will probably be better having one built than buying off the shelf. Plan on spending 12-15 hundred and you'll have a build that will last another 10 years.

 

[Tanngrisnir]

Right as I was uploading a pic to post on the Food forum (must be a sign) so now I'm on my laptop. Anyway I'm going to the store tomorrow to buy a new one.

My old PC has been in use for 9 years every single day and never let me down. RIP, old buddy.

I'm thinking about getting a Win8 64 bit OS (I hate Windoze and Im only getting it to play games) and an Intel 7400 chip.

Anyone have any recommendations for graphics cards? Just looking to play strategy games like DA:I, Arkham Knight and ME Andromeda, nothing special.

How much RAM should I get?

Any suggestions welcome.

Here in Los Angeles, I've had mine custom built by a place called "Stan's Tech Garage" WeHo, and they're amazing. One tidbit they did tell me, however, is if I ever buy a manufacturer's box again, get something by a company who manufactures their own motherboards, as these can be a huge problem down the road. They recommended Asus, and I have both their custom rig (that didn't cost all that much more) and an Asus that's going strong after THREE years of hard photo processing use.

 

[VanceMack]

Id look in the papers and check to see if there is someone selling a used gaming system for a cheap price. Theres almost always someone out there that has built the perfect beast that is a year or two old and looking to upgrade. If it doesnt have it already, replace the hard drive to a new static drive...and you should be able to get a killer system that someone else has essentially paid for.

OH...and I agree about jumping to Windows 10. You will likely have to at some point anyway.

 

[Fishking]

Well Im giving myself a budget of $1K for the unit (without peripherals) so I dont want to go overboard on a gaming rig.

That's plenty for a desktop.

 

[Carjosse]

Don't get Windows 8, whatever you do. In regards to graphic cards try getting any of the Geforce 1000 series, even the 1050 or 1060 is great.

 

[PoS]

Don't get Windows 8, whatever you do. In regards to graphic cards try getting any of the Geforce 1000 series, even the 1050 or 1060 is great.

Huh? Whats wrong with a Win 8? I dont want to get a Win 10 because of the constant spying by Microsoft to your PC.

 

[Carjosse]

Huh? Whats wrong with a Win 8? I dont want to get a Win 10 because of the constant spying by Microsoft to your PC.

Because it is really bad, and a lot games have problems with it. You can turn off all the spying stuff with software.

 

[PeteEU]

Huh? Whats wrong with a Win 8? I dont want to get a Win 10 because of the constant spying by Microsoft to your PC.

Windows 8 does the same amount of so called spying... they just dont give you the ability to shut it off.. Also it is not more spying than Google or Apple does on their devices. Most of the "Windows 10 is spying" bull**** has been promoted by Linux and Apple zealots without a shred of evidence. In fact, when actual experts have done investigations into it, by looking at the data traffic, how much there is and where it goes and when, they found pretty much nothing suspect.

As for your budget.. it is freaking huge for a desktop. Only thing that really is an issue is the graphics card which are way overpriced due to crypto mining. I would look at your games, look at the recommended specs on graphics card and take it from there. Also you should seriously look into Ryzen chips, as they are cheaper, just as good (if not better) and it would let you have more money for those overpriced graphics cards.

Also 16 GB of ram is perfect. Strategy games tend to use a lot, vs shoot em up games.

 

[Mycroft]

Right as I was uploading a pic to post on the Food forum (must be a sign) so now I'm on my laptop. Anyway I'm going to the store tomorrow to buy a new one.

My old PC has been in use for 9 years every single day and never let me down. RIP, old buddy.

I'm thinking about getting a Win8 64 bit OS (I hate Windoze and Im only getting it to play games) and an Intel 7400 chip.

Anyone have any recommendations for graphics cards? Just looking to play strategy games like DA:I, Arkham Knight and ME Andromeda, nothing special.

How much RAM should I get?

Any suggestions welcome.

Going the "BYO" route that others suggest will get you the best computer for the money because you cut out the labor, marketing, etc, costs. But some people are not comfortable or capable of doing that.

A custom built system from a small computer shop will get you a decent rig at a good price. You can also talk to them, get suggestions based on your needs, upgrade/downgrade various components as needed. This is good if you really don't know what you are looking for. Plus, you'll be supporting your local economy instead of the big boys.

Big Box computer stores will ALWAYS try to get you to buy something that's more expensive than what you need and they are ALWAYS limited to what they are selling at the time.

For example, a friend wanted to buy a router/modem to replace the piece of junk she was using from her DSL provider. She went to Best Buy. They were pushing Netgear products (not a bad brand), but they were also pushing the local cable TV and internet. They only had one DSL router/modem in stock (the most expensive one, of course) and a slew of cable router/modems. Fortunately, she's smart...didn't fall for their sales pitch...walked out without their router/modem and cable service...went to Amazon and ordered the Netgear modem that fits her needs.

I'm not even sure it's possible to buy Win8 anymore...a big box store certainly won't have that OS available. If you go Windows, you'll be getting Win10. But don't worry...it's better than Win8. I suggest spending the few extra bucks for Win10 Pro.

For graphics cards...I'm not up on the latest, but something in the Nvidia 900 or 1000 series is where you want to be for future-proofing your rig. Your local computer shop guys will steer you in the right direction.

RAM - 8 Gigs...more if you are going to do graphics, video, photo work.

 

[eohrnberger]

Skip Windows 8 and get 10. Get at least 8 gigs of ram and a GeForce 970. You will probably be better having one built than buying off the shelf. Plan on spending 12-15 hundred and you'll have a build that will last another 10 years.

Don't get Windows 8, whatever you do. In regards to graphic cards try getting any of the Geforce 1000 series, even the 1050 or 1060 is great.

Agreed. Skip to Windows 10.

When you build this thing, make sure to get an SSD for system and software (speed), and a platter for data (capacity), that and as fast as memory you can afford with a greater than 2 core CPU, should put you in a good spot.

Having performed this recently on my main desktop, you throw memory and CPU at Windows 10 and it's actually snappy and nice to use.

 

[Carjosse]

Windows 8 does the same amount of so called spying... they just dont give you the ability to shut it off.. Also it is not more spying than Google or Apple does on their devices. Most of the "Windows 10 is spying" bull**** has been promoted by Linux and Apple zealots without a shred of evidence. In fact, when actual experts have done investigations into it, by looking at the data traffic, how much there is and where it goes and when, they found pretty much nothing suspect.

As for your budget.. it is freaking huge for a desktop. Only thing that really is an issue is the graphics card which are way overpriced due to crypto mining. I would look at your games, look at the recommended specs on graphics card and take it from there. Also you should seriously look into Ryzen chips, as they are cheaper, just as good (if not better) and it would let you have more money for those overpriced graphics cards.

Also 16 GB of ram is perfect. Strategy games tend to use a lot, vs shoot em up games.

I hate these ****ing crypto-miners ridiculously driving up the price of graphics cards. It is only going to get worse, we can only hope that sometime soon Bitcoin becomes hard enough to mine that consumer cards are no longer sufficient.

 

[eohrnberger]

Windows 8 does the same amount of so called spying... they just dont give you the ability to shut it off.. Also it is not more spying than Google or Apple does on their devices. Most of the "Windows 10 is spying" bull**** has been promoted by Linux and Apple zealots without a shred of evidence. In fact, when actual experts have done investigations into it, by looking at the data traffic, how much there is and where it goes and when, they found pretty much nothing suspect.

As for your budget.. it is freaking huge for a desktop. Only thing that really is an issue is the graphics card which are way overpriced due to crypto mining. I would look at your games, look at the recommended specs on graphics card and take it from there. Also you should seriously look into Ryzen chips, as they are cheaper, just as good (if not better) and it would let you have more money for those overpriced graphics cards.

Also 16 GB of ram is perfect. Strategy games tend to use a lot, vs shoot em up games.

Yup. 16 GB of fast RAM makes the world of difference in performance and user experience.

 

[Crovax]

Right as I was uploading a pic to post on the Food forum (must be a sign) so now I'm on my laptop. Anyway I'm going to the store tomorrow to buy a new one.

My old PC has been in use for 9 years every single day and never let me down. RIP, old buddy.

I'm thinking about getting a Win8 64 bit OS (I hate Windoze and Im only getting it to play games) and an Intel 7400 chip.

Anyone have any recommendations for graphics cards? Just looking to play strategy games like DA:I, Arkham Knight and ME Andromeda, nothing special.

How much RAM should I get?

Any suggestions welcome.

Here's a build around $1k that should last you a while

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/W88b3F
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/W88b3F/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i5-7500 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($197.68 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - Z270-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($105.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($84.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Strix Video Card ($354.88 @ OutletPC)
Case: Deepcool - TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1038.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-10 11:07 EDT-0400

 

[Mach]

IMO the main thing to get is a SSD with at least the full OS and a little extra.
Ideally get a full (whatever size you need) SSD. Worth every penny and then some.

Biggest performance/quality of life difference in the past oh, decade? I don't know, it was a game changer. Messing with non SSD pcs, waiting for bootups, reboots, installs, etc., I just will never go back.

 

[PeteEU]

Yup. 16 GB of fast RAM makes the world of difference in performance and user experience.

I went from 8 to 16 a couple of weeks ago. Helped a lot with games like Stellaris and Cities Skylines.

 

[eohrnberger]

I hate these ****ing crypto-miners ridiculously driving up the price of graphics cards. It is only going to get worse, we can only hope that sometime soon Bitcoin becomes hard enough to mine that consumer cards are no longer sufficient.

I think that it may have already gotten to that state.

 

[RetiredUSN]

I have a HP right now and it is the first PC that I have not personally built for myself.

Never again!

 

[Carjosse]

I think that it may have already gotten to that state.

But it is isn't stopping them. I wonder how many of these people are buying them then realizing they will never hope to make enough Bitcoin to make a profit.

 

[eohrnberger]

But it is isn't stopping them. I wonder how many of these people are buying them then realizing they will never hope to make enough Bitcoin to make a profit.

If that's the video card's only purpose, might end up being a loser. But in the mean time, the buyer also has a stomping good video card for everything else.

I don't play games very much myself, other than the really old ones, like Age Of Empires II, which doesn't require much.

Most of the time I'm 'playing' with my Linux machines anyway.

 

[PoS]

I went from 8 to 16 a couple of weeks ago. Helped a lot with games like Stellaris and Cities Skylines.

I was thinking of getting 24 GB. You think 16 is enough for like multitasking with web browsers?

 

[Carjosse]

If that's the video card's only purpose, might end up being a loser. But in the mean time, the buyer also has a stomping good video card for everything else.

I don't play games very much myself, other than the really old ones, like Age Of Empires II, which doesn't require much.

Most of the time I'm 'playing' with my Linux machines anyway.

Well you can't game and mine, it is mutually exclusive thing. Technically you can but you will never get any Bitcoin and your games will have much worse performance.